Tom's Designs

Busy creating in my studio

Biography

I attended schools in Modesto and Oakdale, California and have an AA degree in Art from Modesto Junior College and a BA in Public Administration from the University of San Francisco. I retired from the Modesto Police Department after having attained the rank of Captain and Interim Chief of Police.

Creativity has always been a part of my life. For many years I have painted with water colors, acrylics and oils and have enjoyed making one of a kind elaborate Christmas gift wrappings.

What started out as creating recipe boxes for Christmas presents for family members has turned into a small business. I built wooden boxes and sketched a design and then etched it with a wood burner and then hand painted the design with a variety of colors and shading. They were so popular I began receiving many custom orders.

My wife mentioned that she would like some kind of container for her reading glasses so they wouldn't get misplaced. I sketched out an idea with a nature scene and made an eyeglass caddie with felt on the inside so the eyeglass lenses would not get scratched. Of course she also needed caddies for the kitchen, family room, computer room and bedroom. Fifty eyeglass caddies were used as gifts for guests at a country club function.

That led into making boxes for makeup brushes with brushes, combs, hair dryer painted on the outside and boxes with pens and pencils painted on them. Kitchen utensil holders followed with utensils painted on them. Large and medium serving trays with nature motifs are very popular as well as memento/treasure boxes and highly decorative cheese boards and cutting boards for display and use.